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Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Kali
Hansa, born Marisol
Hernández, sort of put a spell on me with her role as Tunika in Amando de Ossorio’s THE NIGHT OF THE
SORCERERS. I would have dreams that were kind of like my own imagined sequel to
the film, where, in a sickly state, I would travel to the African forest where
this film took place. Knowing my time was running short, due to some sort of
terminal illness, I would travel up a mountain and to a place where I knew I
would find Tunika, in her vampire form. Longing to end my suffering, I would
find her in a shallow moonlit river where she would welcome me, and through an
act of vampiric intercourse, she would make me like her, curing me, making me
immortal, and also inflicting her curse upon me.

Thus is the effect her
presence in THE NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS had on me. With her constantly lingering
in my mind, I eventually viewed several more films that she was in, sometimes
credited as Gaby Herman or Kali Hansen. I was slightly saddened to find out
that she was usually just a supporting/minor character and had an acting career
that didn’t really take off, and it seemed to have ended circa 1976 after
shooting a hardcore porno for Jess Franco, WHITE SKIN BLACK THIGHS and an erotic comedy, GIRLS IN THE NIGHT TRAFFIC. Despite usually having small roles and frequently
being killed off, she visually stood out the most amongst other characters and gave off an ‘Oh-wow, who’s-that?’
impression. She apparently vanished after filming her last movie. She is from Cuba and was the girlfriend of Alberto Dalbes.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

This odd but satisfying psychological horror short is
an interesting and nightmarish look at the deterioration of the marriage between
its two sole characters, Theodore and Janet (Gresby Nash and Laura Howard). With its claustrophobic home
interior setting, the film maintains a consistent tone as we witness a sort of
aftermath to Theodore’s bout with breast cancer, now in remission. Contrary to
what should be a good thing, the story takes a more downbeat approach as things
seem fairly depressing, instead, with the couple apparently growing distant
after Janet discovers she is pregnant. Being disappointed by her pregnancy
causes Janet to realize that she truly isn’t happy with her marriage anymore, and so she decides
to keep the pregnancy from her husband. The idea of feeling trapped is brought out remarkably
well with Janet locking herself in the bathroom as a way of escape.

Theodore learns of the pregnancy after overhearing Janet talking
on the phone to a friend. It ends up being real hard on him to know that Janet
is deliberately keeping the news about their child from him. As events unfold
in a days-of-the-week progression, he undergoes a kind of mental degradation.
With the cinematography on display during Theodore’s decline, I could almost
feel his inebriation when he starts to go heavy on the drugs and alcohol. The
horror elements of the film start to come out more as the problem escalates and
reality and nightmare start to merge.

GET WELL SOON showcases terrific performances from its two sole actors (I especially loved the chilling way that Laura Howard abruptly switched her
facial expression during a key moment that involves her screaming at something off camera).
The story by Michael Woodman is
engaging and well written, though some viewers might end up with some
unanswered questions (being a psychological horror film this is understandable,
but I’m interested in knowing if the consistent use of the bathtub symbolized
or meant anything). My favorite part consists of an artistically shot nightmare
scene that portrays the cause of Theodore’s drug consumption and the effect
that this new ordeal is having on him -- a disturbing visual of Theodore resting
on Janet’s bosom as she envelops him and feeds him pills. I also enjoyed
getting freaked out by the movie’s ending scene, which caused GET WELL SOON to
impress me more than I was expecting. It is genuinely scary, and I admire the way
Woodman decided to avoid having a
predictable ‘guy goes crazy and kills his wife’ ending.